| |
 |
Home > India
Our Programmes
EDUCATION
- Our Trilingual balwadi (pre-school) for 2 ½ - 5 ½ year old children, was established in September 2006. Education is based on the Muktangan principle of providing interactive, child-centred education with a low student-teacher ratio to children from economically-disadvantaged backgrounds. The teachers are drawn from the same community as the children and are trained at Muktangan’s teaching training institute.
- English volunteer programme: expatriate volunteers teach conversational English to the FMCHI balwadi teachers. The teachers improved English skills can then be passed on to the children.
- Home visits: FMCHI teachers visit the children in their home environments, enabling them to better understand and manage the children’s individual behavioural traits. Home visits are followed up with fortnightly discussions between the teachers and a qualified psychotherapist.
- Certificate course in Life Skills for parents of children aged 2 – 10 years: This course enables parents to support their children in acquiring the relevant skills needed to improve their prospects for a successful and healthy future.
HEALTH
FMCHI aims to increase knowledge on health issues amongst the community by the following methods:
- Initiating interactive talks on health issues such as the prevention of illness, childhood illnesses, immunization and general hygiene and sanitation.
- Tracking the height and weight of children under five years old.
- Providing iron and calcium supplements and de-worming medication.
- Carrying out visits to the homes of very badly malnourished children. Interaction and bonding with the mothers during these visits increases the likelihood that they will come to the health centre. The visits also help FMCHI staff to better understand why the children are not thriving.
NUTRITION
The Foundation for Mother and Child Health in India aims to reduce the incidence of malnutrition from an initial level of 80% to 0% in their community by:
- Interactive counselling sessions with mothers within the community on the importance of breast feeding, the timely introduction of solids for infants and feeding for toddlers.
- 1:1 counselling with mothers on the nutritional needs of their children.
- Interactive ‘hands-on’ cooking demonstrations for young mothers in the community.
- Provision of snacks and breakfast to pre school/balwadi children under the supervision of a highly qualified nutritionist.
- An intensive feeding programme for pregnant, lactating mothers and children under the age of five which has resulted in bringing down the level of malnutrition to 34%.
YOUTH GROUP
FMCHI helps in the formation of youth groups with the aim of empowering the parents of tomorrow break the cycle of poverty and malnutrition in their communities.
The current projects run by and for the youth include:
- A waste management project run by 13 – 18 year olds.
- A vocational guidance project in which individuals are sponsored, helping them to achieve their career goals.
- Certificate course in Housekeeping and Health Care skills for 18 – 25 year olds, during which they are trained to become qualified in-house attendants for the sick.
VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES
If you live in Mumbai and would like to help The Foundation for Mother and Child Health in India during your spare time, please contact us –link to contact page please..
We especially welcome professionals with the following skills/experience:
- Nursing, Midwifery, Health Visiting experience
- Nutritionists
- First Aid, Pre and Ante Natal Course training
- Computing, IT skills
- Accountancy or Book Keeping skills
- Trainers in English as a second language
|
|
